A slight confession: we’re all about the element of surprise over here at Terminator. We guard the secrets of our series like crypt keepers, hoping to ensure your ultimate enjoyment upon viewing. For example, one of our biggest reveals that we worked so hard to keep secret this season was Shirley Manson’s T-1001, “Catherine Weaver.”

But you guys are crafty. You find our casting “sides” literally minutes after they’re posted. You catch freudian slips in interviews, find script pages or call sheets laying around Los Angeles, stumble upon production in a public location. We don’t underestimate you.

One of the most interesting areas of production involves the casting process. How do we allow our lovely casting folk enough material to find the right actor for the job without revealing too many secrets? It’s a constant push and pull. Sometimes, as was the case with the role of “Riley,” completely fake monologues are written (in her case, unrelated to the character or character’s backstory). Other times we simply make small changes to the script and take out important details. In fact, spoilerphobes, we’ve even gone as far as releasing completely faux script pages under the guise of casting– scenes that don’t exist, characters that are absolutely made up. Just a little insight into another bit of our process.

So as you have your fun searching for everything and anything you can figure out ahead of time, keep in mind that we’re also having our fun trying to detour you. But seriously, more than anything, we’re just glad you’re so excited about the show.

Writer/Co-Executive Producer Toni Graphia talks more about Allison From Palmdale — right from the set of the freighter tank during production. Hear what she has to say exclusively here!

It’s that time again! Time for another round of missing pieces and little-known factoids, Goodbye to All That-style.

Goodbye to All That was really the third episode we produced and shot this season. It was written by Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz (also known as “The Turk” to some of you), previously of Dungeons and Dragons fame, and directed by frequent 24 director, Bryan Spicer.

Catherine Weaver’s alter-ego — the beautiful woman who seduces Nelson in the bar — is actually played by actress Bobbi Sue Luther, the Night of the Demons and Laid to Rest star who is also married to our special FX makeup guru, Rob Hall. Bobbi also played the role of “Claire” in Lena Headey’s directorial debut, The Sophisticates.

Most of the big Presidio Alto set pieces were shot in Calabasas, CA at the King Gillette Ranch. Ironically, we were not the only production shooting at this park during those days. Gillette Ranch traditionally houses NBC’s The Biggest Loser, which was also in production at the same time. This now public park was once owned privately by King Gillette of the razor fame, and later by Soka University.

Look closely at the future war scene in which Martin Bedell is briefing Derek and Kyle at Hammerhead Observation Post. You’ll see three other really cool, really scrappy resistance fighters. These soldiers were actually played by our superstar staff writers, Dan Thomsen, Ian Goldberg, and Denise The! Pretty good looking, ay?

Derek nearly erupts at the same goofy cadet that John assists earlier at the shooting range. The writers named this cadet “Pyle,” clearly after another Pyle…

And speaking of Pyle, anyone notice our big continuity error? Alert! Watch the scene of John teaching Pyle “SPORTS” at the gun range. And check out John’s protective eye glasses — they jump back and forth throughout the entire scene! Yes, this definitely bugged us, but in production things occasionally slip by and there’s just no way to fix them (it’s too costly to go back and reshoot them) — this is one of those times. Hope it doesn’t ruin it for you.

Goodbye to All That is our first script in which the killing machine was simply referred to as “The Terminator.” We generally are required to attribute a name to the Terminators (though let’s be honest, we recognize that Skynet doesn’t actually give them a name) for both clarity and legal purposes.

There was a little controversy over the video game that little Marty Bedell plays before the Terminator shows up and Sarah rescues him. As seen, it is actually Small Arms, but it was initially scripted that he was going wild in Call of Duty 2. Because the character is only ten years old we were asked to change it (much to our dismay). So we did, but the finally scene description in the script now reads: “A VIDEO GAME. ‘Small Arms,’ the game the whole family can use to work out their aggressions by shooting strangers in the head over the internet. The game controller rests in the small but assured hands of MARTY, 10. Smart, determined.”

What else did you notice?

Because so many of you, our most devoted fans, have been asking, we wanted to set the record straight!

While the fate of the show past production on episode thirteen is still unclear, FOX has given us the go-ahead to write two more additional episodes for this season — fourteen and fifteen.

We are hard at work writing those episodes and await news of a potential pickup for the full “back nine” (additional episodes to complete the season) in the near future. We’re crossing our fingers (and dotting our i’s) that we’ll have more good news to share with you soon…

In the meantime, keep tuning in! Get your friends interested! And thanks for all of your support.

Sorry for the delay! Goodbye to All That writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz (that’s “The Turk” to you) delve into the episode that saw the Connors faced with all sorts of Martin Bedell.

Podcast 205

Executive Producer Josh Friedman and Allison writer and Co-Executive Producer Toni Graphia weigh in on last night’s episode in our newest podcast. Check it out.

While we certainly can’t advocate for other shows on other networks (hey, we’re team players that way), thanks for another(!) swell Sarah Connor shoutout to our friends at that banging Monday night sitcom. You guys are the best, if only you weren’t on at such an inconvenient time…

On the day after Ginia Bellafante declared our show “resplendently grim” in her piece in the New York Times, I am reminded, as I bask in the glow of such a compliment, of how I came up with the title for tonight’s episode. I knew that Cromartie was going to build a trap, and that the trap would probably involve an explosive device of some kind, and so I began to wonder how he would detonate such a device. Then I wondered how, in the real world, somebody would detonate a homemade bomb if they needed to, and that led me to wondering who in the real world would need to and that got me involved in an internet excursion of sites dedicated to IEDs (for those of you not in the know – Improvised Explosive Devices), a wickedly effective tool of terrorists, militias, freedom fighters, and assholes around the world.

Apparently, the common everyday mousetrap is the preferred method of detonation for such contraptions. It is beyond cheap, and beyond effective in its simplicity. It only takes thirty-eight thousandths of a second to deploy, and there it is, on numerous websites for all the world to see.

It seemed a fitting way for a Terminator to do his business. Mindless and heartless as he is, there is something fittingly resplendent in the fact that he should turn this terrible tool on us humans. Oh, wait, we’re already doing it to each other. Never mind. Enjoy the show!

Behold, the audio podcast for last night’s episode, Automatic for the People. This week’s edition features Executive Producer James Middleton and Co-Executive Producer/Writer Natalie Chaidez.

Update: Podcast apparently cuts out at the 8:00 minute mark. We’re working on fixing it…

202 Podcast

Hey, LA residents! Don’t forget to join us this Saturday @ Golden Apple Comics for a T:SCC cast meet and greet (plus special screening of this coming week’s episode Automatic for the People)! 7018 Melrose Ave, LA 90038. 5PM. Sponsored by Indie 103.1.